Fence



(NO Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. W. HAMMETT.

FENCE.

No. 580,311. Patented Apr. 6, 1897.

WITNESSES NlTE STATES JAMES W. HAMMETT, OF EUREKA, WEST VIRGINIA.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,311, dated April 6, 1897.

Application filed August 29, 1896.

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES W. HAMMETT, of Eureka, in the county of Pleasants and State of WVest Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvements in Fences, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a construction of wire fence which shall increase the strength and stiffness of the same and which shall adapt it to firmly stand upon a hillside and be capable of easy repair in case a post should lose its hold in the ground due to the caving or washing of the bank or hillside; and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of a brace-panel and a hillside-post, as hereinafter fully de scribed.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my bracepanel; Fig. 2, a side View of "the hillside-post shown fastened in the earth. Fig. 2" is a horizontal section through the same, and Fig. 2 is a detail of the fastening-staple; Fig. 3, a detail side view of the stay-strip, and Fig. 4 a view of these three features incorporated in a fence.

Referring to Fig. 1, the brace-panel consists of three posts A A A, two reversely-inclined braces B B, a cap-strip C on the top of the posts slightly inclined in transverse section, so as to shed water, and a horizontal stringer D, secured to the sides of the posts at the top along and under the edge of the cap 0. The posts are preferably about four inches square and have an iron foot or base a bolted or riveted to them, by which they are firmly anchored in the ground. The diagonal braces B B are nailed to opposite sides of the posts, and the one, B, which is intended chiefly to take the strain off the fence, is about four inches square and gained or mortised into the posts, the posts and the brace being each notched out where they fit together, so as to make a strong and stiff joint. The other brace, B, is simplyaheavy board nailed on the opposite side after the wires are put on. The cap and stringer are simply fencing-boards nailed one on top of the posts and the other on the sides of the posts immediately under the cap.

whose lower end is provided with a firmly-atgerial No. 604,295. (No model.)

tached and wedge-shaped iron foot 6, through which latter there is an oblong vertical slot 6', adapted to receive two stakes or pins 6 6 which are driven into the bank with a re versed inclination, so as to get a firm hold or anchorage to immovably secure the lower end of the post. To this post on the higher side of the hill is riveted a heavy bracket-shaped bar F, whose angleis bent to conform to the surface of the ground and assist in holding the post vertical. This bar is also provided with an oblong slot f, adapted to receive two pins or stakes f f, driven at a reversed inclination into the ground to give an anchorage therein, and has also a brace-rod f extending from the outer end of this bar F to the upright post, to which it is secured by a nail, screw, or bolt. The post is provided on the side against which the wires lie with a vertical series of bored holes 6 extending about three-quarters of the Way through the post, and over the face of each hole is placed a washer 9, through which the wire 10 of the fence is driven in the form of a loop with a suitable punch and secured bya staple s of the proper length, which when driven in the bottom of these holes straddles the wire and goes through to the other side of the post and is clenched, as shown in Fig. 2. This is a very desirable connection in case the bank should cave and a particular post should be moved back, as the slack of the loop in the wire can be let out to provide for the extra length required by moving back the post, or more slack can be taken up, if the line is shortened, without cutting the wire or moving any other part of the fence. The object of the Washer is merely to form a hear,- ing for the wire and prevent its tension from involving a splitting strain on the post.

The stay-strip, Fig. 3, consists of a piece of wood three inches wide and one and one-fourth inches thick and of suflicient length to reach from the bottom of the fence to the top. This strip is secured to the wires between posts to act as a stay, and it is secured to the wires by a Washer and a staple without a depression or by a staple and depression without a washer, as may be desired.

The staple is made of wire with flat sharp chisel-shaped edges as wide as the wire is thick, and when driven should be placed di agonally on the timber, so that the edges stand directly across the grain of the Wood, the edges being made at an angle with the arch of the staple, as shown in Fig. 2

In setting up this fence the various features are assembled as shown in Fig. 4.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A brace-panel for a Wire fence, comprising vertical posts with iron anchorage feet or braces, an inclined brace -bar crossing the posts diagonally and gained or notched reciprocally into each other, a reversely-inclined bar or board on the Wire side of the posts, and a cap-strip and stringer substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A hillside or bank post comprising a vertical post with wedge-shaped met-a1 foot hav- JAMES W. HAMMETT. Vitnesses:

N. ELDRED KIDD, WILLIAM P. DYE. 

